Anecdotal Evidence

[Wagonmaster]

Lots of talk about predation control in the news and on HBC these days. The antis claim that there are no studies to support wolf culls and that grizzly bears are endangered. The lack of good reliable methods of determining population levels seems to me, to be one of the biggest problems in wildlife management. The so called scientists from the Raincoast society claim that "much of the information the province's wildlife managers obtain regarding wolf populations is anecdotal, with a reliance on public sightings and observations". They say it is "seat-of-the-pants management rooted an anti-predator ideology." Contrary to their opinion, and after several decades of spending time in BC's wilderness, I believe that the anecdotal evidence of BC's hunting community is undoubtedly the best measure of wildlife population levels. That, and analysis of hunter success statistics. When there are no deer tracks, no moose tracks, and thousands of wolf tracks, it seems pretty obvious to me that an imbalance exists and that predator management is necessary.

[steveo]

Who said that the ministry doesn't have a grasp on wolf numbers? There are piles of wolf studies to know wolf behavior and habits and to correlate that information with wildlife management. Everyone loves using Yellowstone as the holy grail of wolf studies, lots of info there and it is applicable to B.C because they are our wolves.

[Ourea]

Bios are painfully aware of escalating wolf numbers.

[Dougielightning]

Could talk to the B.C. cattlemans association most ranchers I know are struggling with wolves in region 8

[Treed]

Anecdotal information can help identify that research might be warranted, but it will not contribute to the determination of population size.

[OceanMon]

Rising wolf populations are unlikely the sole reason for declining ungulates. Unfortunately, there is not enough funding to figure out why, let alone funding to fix the problem

[Cordillera]

I think the reference to anecdotal information means no definitive population estimate. Both grizzly and wolves are ridiculously expensive to survey. So the province does not do surveys to the same level of rigour some think is needed.

However local knowledge including traditional knowledge is prettty good at picking up trends and it’s clear populations are up. Sometimes way up.

[Avalanche123]

However local knowledge including traditional knowledge is prettty good at picking up trends and it’s clear populations are up. Sometimes way up.

I agree...the value of local knowledge should not be overlooked....

[Piperdown]

Its a shame that the BS put out there by anti's is all lies, should be some sort of filter on the net to close comments down that have no merit,scientific studies etc (but not studies by the likes of Raincoast and their peers) some of their comments are so out there and they eat it up like hungry puppies

[steveo]

Its a shame that the BS put out there by anti's is all lies, should be some sort of filter on the net to close comments down that have no merit,scientific studies etc (but not studies by the likes of Raincoast and their peers) some of their comments are so out there and they eat it up like hungry puppies

There is a filter, its called a brain. If the dumb bar of society is dropping that low then the loss of hunting/trapping is just the beginning, soon they will ban fishing because the worms die when you put them on the hook. We need to get the right information out and educate the public, people still think the old style leg-holds with teeth are commonly used as a main tool for trappers, pathetic.